Page 20 of The Broken Mirror
“Exactly,” Little Jeanne says. “Relax, rest, and have a little fun. I mean, it’s so nice having you here. It will be revitalizing, don’t you think?”
Gretel and Alistair nod sheepishly, staring at their breakfasts to avoid eye contact with Filomena. Princess Jeanne and Riff don’t say anything, but they look defeated as well. No one argues with Little Jeanne.
Filomena wishes she could talk privately with Jack,Alistair, and Gretel. She feels like she’s lost the rhythm and the tight alliance of her favorite foursome. She puts her head in her hands, resigned.
Just then, the front doors to the castle fly open. Everyone jumps up suddenly. Robin Hood? The henchmen? Ogres? Who goes there?!
No, none of those things. Something much, much better.
“Beatrice!” Gretel cries, running over to hug her cousin. “What are you doing here?” She pulls back to look at Beatrice. “Shouldn’t you be on your honeymoon?”
Behind Beatrice, Byron, once beastly and now returned to his handsome princely form, steps into the room as well.
Filomena feels her heart lighten. Beatrice and Byron know exactly what’s at stake! Maybe they can convince everyone that resting at this palace is silly.
“If it isn’t the prince and princess of Wonderland!” Princess Jeanne singsongs. “Please, make yourselves at home. I won’t hold it against you that I wasn’t invited to your spectacular wedding.”
But Beatrice and Byron don’t appear able to join in on the joking—they look terribly morose.
“We were on our honeymoon, yes,” Beatrice says in answer to Gretel’s question. “But once we returned, we got a message.” Turning to Filomena, she says, “We’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
“For me? What kind of message?”
“Well, we’re not sure exactly how it got through theportal, but it looks like your father has figured out how to send messages from the mortal world.”
Filomena’s heart catches in her throat. “My dad? Is he okay? How did he do that?”
“We don’t know really, but it seems he somehow knew that Wonderland was the last place you’d been. He must have sent the message before you left, but we didn’t see it until we got back,” replies Byron.
“What did it say? What’s going on?” Filomena asks, raising her voice to a louder pitch than normal.
“Filomena, I’m so sorry,” Beatrice says.
“Just tell me what’s happening!” Why is her dad sending her messages in Never After? It can only mean something terrible has happened.
Beatrice sighs. She looks at Byron and then back at Filomena. Her pretty face is drawn and anxious. “I’m very sorry to tell you this, but your mother has fallen ill. It sounds quite serious, apparently.”
Filomena grips the back of her chair to remain standing. She feels sick. Her mom is ill? “How serious?” She can feel tears start to form.
“I don’t know, but I do think you should go back to the mortal world for now.”
“Fil…,” Jack begins, starting to get up to go to her. “I’m so sorry.”
“No… no, it’s okay…,” she tells him. “You shouldn’tmove.” She hides her face in her hands. She doesn’t want to cry in front of everyone.
Gretel rushes over and envelops her in a hug. Alistair is there, too, holding her tightly. Her friends are with her.
She can’t restrain herself any longer. She cries in their embrace. “Not my mom!” she wails.
Her mom. Her amazing mom.
She takes a deep breath, wipes her tears, and pulls away from her friends. Whatever they decide to do now, she knows only what she must do.
“I’m going home,” she announces.
CHAPTERNINEHOMESWEETHOME?
“Are you coming back?”
